Healdsburg stabbing suspect still at large

Police continued their search Wednesday evening for the suspect in a stabbing outside the Healdsburg Community Center that injured one man and led to the after-school program’s lockdown as officers combed the neighborhood.

Luis Enrique Gonzalez, 22, is suspected of stabbing a 23-year-old man in the arm. The victim was treated at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where he was in stable condition, Healdsburg police Sgt. Nick Castaneda said.

Following the 4 p.m. Tuesday incident, officers fanned out in search of Gonzalez, checking his residence at Oak Grove Apartments on the 1500 block of Grove Street.

Police went door-to-door, talking to neighbors and asking about his possible whereabouts and passing out flyers with his description, Castaneda said.

“He’s still at large,” the sergeant said Wednesday at 7:20 a.m. “But we’re working on a good lead.”

Castaneda asked anyone with information about Gonzalez to call police but warned against trying to contact or subdue him.

“We still have not recovered the large knife we believe he’s carrying.” he said.

Both the unnamed victim and the assailant have known gang ties, said Castaneda, and both are residents of Oak Grove Apartments.

Gonzalez was described as having a shaved head, mustache, and wearing a black shirt and jeans. Healdsburg police suspect the attack could be gang-related.

The stabbing was reported at the center on Healdsburg Avenue, the site of the former Foss Creek School. At the time of the incident, an after-school program was in session, but none of the 130 children participating witnessed the violence, said Mark Themig, community services director for the city of Healdsburg.

At first notice of the stabbing, staff inside the community center implemented a lockdown protocol. Children, guided by two adults per class, were brought into classrooms, doors were locked, blinds drawn and paper put over the windows in classroom doors so there was no visibility into the rooms, Themig said.

“When parents came to pick up their kids, one student asked me if the lockdown was a drill,” said Themig, who told the youth that it was not a drill. “We were effective in protecting the kids, not only from the incident, but also from the sense of alarm.”

After the incident, parents were called individually by a community center staff member to discuss what had happened.

On Wednesday, a psychologist and a counselor from the Healdsburg Unified School District went to the community center to meet with each child to ensure them the center was a safe environment, Themig said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 707-568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.